Postal Service did this. Always claimed that second album was gonna come out at some point then finally came clean and admitted there were only two tracks and they pretty much sounded exactly like the first album so they re-released it with those two tracks on. No one seemed to be that upset because at least they knew now so it wasn’t a question anymore.

You can understand the lying though, keeps them in people’s minds, keeps people checking in. Seems a bit off though somehow.

I think in a lot of cases it’s an attempt to be truthful with the fans. A lot of artists intend to finish what they start, and there’s obviously a great many half-finished albums where if the artists were asked at the beginning, they would say they intended to complete and release them. But if they realise the songs aren’t strong enough or “life stuff” gets in the way and they want to stop making it, that’s fine. Artists don’t owe us anything, even after they say material is coming. Still frustrating though e.g. Chromatics - Dear Tommy.

Some bands probably do lie about it, just to make out they’ve got some kind of forward momentum. I’d give the band the benefit of the doubt, unless they otherwise seemed like pricks. People probably shouldn’t publicly commit to anything until it’s in the early stages of being released, when all the tracks are done and recorded. However if you’re doing say, a pledgemusic campaign, that makes things a bit different!

Oh yeah, Frank Ocean was pretty funny with his album coming out as well. Genuinely so bizarre- was meant to be released like 10 times, then the album that came out may not have been the one he was hyping- is Blond ‘Boys don’t Cry’? Who knows

Pretty great example really. Gets caught up in a web of lies about releasing an album without actually finishing it, makes a huge listening party, tosses out a half finished product but tells everyone he’s Pablo Picasso as a cover-up.

yup. he ended up giving most of the money to charity and finally sent the album out to everyone he could get hold of this year. the Pitchfork article about it’s interesting, he at least seems apologetic about it and ashamed, rather than being a dick about it like some others.